Afternoon Sun
by kunoichigirl7878
Summary: Alice's point of view on Bella's pregnancy.
1. Chapter 1

It couldn't be possible. Edward wouldn't be so careless as to let Bella become pregnant, could he? My vision was probably going, or maybe it was my imagination running wild. Hopefully one of those two, because I couldn't imagine what it would be like if…

No. It wasn't happening, Bella wasn't pregnant.

"Hey, Alice, are you okay?" Esme said, as I sat in the kitchen chair, staring at my hands, which were intertwined. I realized then I was sweaty and nervous, as if the possibility was true.

"Yes, I'm fine. Do you know where Carlisle is?" I said, standing and turning to face her. She looked worried, but didn't question me.

"Yes, he's in his study."

I moved fluidly up the stairs and into Carlisle's study, halting in front of his desk. He looked up at me from his papers, a worried expression on his face.

"Yes, what's wrong?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm probably being ridiculous, or something, but I just had a vision…that Bella was pregnant," I said, rushing it as fast as I could. Carlisle stiffened, but calmly reached over for the phone and dialed.

"Are you calling them?" I asked. He ignored me and concentrated on the phone, his eyebrows drawn together, a worried expression on his face.

After a long time, someone answered. Carlisle began talking in a low voice, asking if Bella was alright, if she'd been nauseous, if there'd been any change in her sleeping patterns. He finally confirmed my vision, telling Edward (presumably) that he suspected Bella was pregnant.

He hung up, but left his hand on the phone.

"What…are they coming home?" I pressed, putting my palms on his desk and leaning forward to look into his face.

"Yes," he said shortly. I waited for a longer explanation, but none come, so I retreated to my bedroom. I tried to concentrate on a book, but I couldn't help but think what kind of child Bella was carrying. Finally, a knock came on my door.

"Yes?" I called, hoping it was Carlisle.

Jasper's head poked around the door.

"Oh," I said.

"What's wrong?" he said, crossing the room in two long strides and sitting next to me on the couch. I glanced over at him, wondering how he'd take it. But, I couldn't feel stressed out about it, or anything else, really, because he was calming me down. Typical Jasper.

"Bella's pregnant," I said, whispering it. I was almost afraid to say it out loud, as if that validated it further. He sat next to me in silence for awhile.

"Wow."

I nodded, glancing at his face. He was expressionless, a statue, but I could tell he was somewhat distressed.

"Do you think they're going to be okay? Both of them, not just Bella. I mean obviously Edward's going to be fine physically, although I can't say the same for Bella. But I mean, emotionally, mentally…how do you think they're doing?" I said, unable to contain all my questions to myself for any longer. Jasper threw me a quick smile and squeezed my hand.

"I think they're fine. I'm not sure how this will turn out for Bella, however…" he drifted off, staring into space.

I sighed. Everyone in this house over-thought everything. I mean, Bella would pull through! She had to. What would Edward's life be without her? What would any of our lives be without her? She was almost the glue that held us together.

In a way, I was grateful she came along. She provided Edward with unlimited happiness, gave all of us a bit of humanity, helped us all one way or another. But if she ever disappeared, or if something ever happened to her…what would become of Edward? What if he disappeared, again? Emmett would be depressed, which would cause Rosalie pain, also. I'd be bored, lonely, as well. And Jasper…I wouldn't pay much attention to him. And Esme would be distraught, and Carlisle, as well…

"I'm going to go speak with Carlisle," Jasper said suddenly, releasing my hand and exiting my room. I sighed and closed my door behind him.

After what seemed like eternity, Carlisle knocked on my door and told me we were going to the airport to pick up Bella and Edward.

"All of us?" I asked, following behind him in the hallway.

"Yes," he said shortly, and I didn't question him further.

When we finally got to the airport and found Bella and Edward, I held out my arms, expecting a hug. But Bella didn't come over to my right away; instead she fell into Rosalie's outstretched arms.

I threw a questioning glance at Edward, but he was staring at the two, puzzled, as well. Obviously he didn't know what was going on, either.

"Esme, Carlisle, Jasper, Edward, Alice, Emmett—Bella has decided to keep her baby," Rosalie said firmly, looking at all of us. Edward looked aghast.

"Keep…she can't possibly! It will destroy her!" he said, almost roaring. Passerby glanced at us; an unusually beautiful collection of people, all stressed, all staring at the most normal looking one out of us.

"It's her decision, Edward," Rosalie said in a formal, clipped tone. We all glanced at each other.

"Um…even if something does happen…I can become a…v—" Bella began, but Edward cut her off.

"No! You're going to become a vampire on your own terms, not because you have no other choices!" he said, as we began moving back to the parking lot.

"But, Edward, you never wanted to turn me into a vampire when I could live such a long life!" Bella protested. "Now it'll be because the only other choice is death!"

Edward's face was expressionless as we rode home in silence.

When we got home, we immediately set up an already very-pregnant-looking Bella on the couch and hovered around, not knowing what to do next. I tried to glance into Bella's future, see if she'd really have to turn into a vampire, or if she'd be alright on her own. But…I couldn't. Something was blocking my vision, as if I were surrounded by werewolves.

I gave a little gasp of shock at this new revelation, and all heads turned to me.

"What's wrong?" Jasper demanded, immediately at my side.

"Nothing, I…I can't see anything, that's all," I said, glaring at Bella's stomach. She put her hands protectively on it.

"Why are you looking at me?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, I mean…obviously that _thing _in you…it's blocking my vision."

She glared back at me, but said nothing.

"Alice, maybe you should stay upstairs," Carlisle said, his voice gentle but unswerving. I sighed, but didn't argue. This wasn't the time for it.

I retreated in my bedroom, lying on the floor, listening to the hushed voices discussing the possibilities, and Rosalie's sharp voice insisting on saving the baby. Not even caring about Bella, just selfishly wishing it was her baby.

I sighed, and stared at the ceiling. What was going to happen?


	2. Chapter 2

It was about a day after we all arrived home that Edward came to see me to explain what was going on. People had been coming in and out, updating me on the alarmingly fast rate of the pregnancy, how Edward was, how Bella was. I felt left out, as if I were missing out on all the excitement, although I knew I had to control thoughts like that around Edward. He wouldn't want me thinking of this as "excitement."

The moment he came in, I felt his tension, and I immediately started thinking about something completely unrelated. He sat on the edge of a chair, as I waited for him to begin talking.

"What's going on?" I finally burst out, unable to wait another second. Edward was being selfish, he knew that I needed to know what was going on.

"It's growing much too fast to not cause alarm. Carlisle and I have discussed…getting rid of it. Rosalie won't hear of it, she barely lets us speak to Bella as it is. Neither of them realize what this will do to Bella. Or, rather, Rosalie realizes. But she won't tell Bella, and won't let anyone else."

We sat in silence for a moment, and I shook my head. "Edward, she's doing this because she can't have a child of her own. I almost suspect she _wants _Bella dead, so she could raise it all by herself."

Edward tensed, but nodded in agreement. We all knew Rosalie was selfish. We'd just never known she'd use Bella, _kill _Bella to get what she wanted.

"What have you told Charlie?" I asked after a few moments, trying to change the subject away from Rosalie. I didn't want to remind him of the things that were bound to happen.

"She contracted some sort of rare South American disease," he said. I snorted.

"As if he's gonna believe that? C'mon, Edward. Put a little more effort in," I joked, but the glare he gave me shut me up immediately. "Oh, Edward, I'm up here all the time. I don't know anything, I've got no idea how serious this is!"

He stood up abruptly, probably half wanting to get back to Bella, and half wanting to have nothing to do with me anymore.

"Well, maybe you should come downstairs sometimes. You don't need to see all the time," he said, and stormed out of my room. I'd never seen Edward so upset, it was unlike him and his usual cool façade.

I thought about it for awhile. It was unsettling not being able to see the future; I'd grown very accustomed to it. I was able to do without it when I was with the wolves, but it made me uncomfortable having to do it in my own home.

I sighed. I could get past it for a little while, at least.

I opened my door and headed downstairs to see Bella. I prepared myself for what I might see on the stairs, but still gasped in shock when I saw her.

She looked about five months pregnant already, but with a sickly tinge rather than a happy glow. I didn't understand how she could want to save so badly the thing that was destroying her. I guess it didn't make sense to anybody but her and Rosalie, but I wasn't even sure about the latter.

Edward glanced up at me, causing Bella to twist and look at me, too. I hurried down the stairs and over to her side so she didn't have to strain herself anymore.

"Alice! I haven't seen you in a while!" she said, grasping my hands tightly in both of hers. I looked at her complexion, pale yellow with a sheen of sweat covering her face. I couldn't imagine how much worse it was going to get.

I tried to put a smile on my face, and not worry Bella. But it was hard, seeing her so weak and fragile…even more so than before. She was still a human, after all. And it must be destroying Edward to sit here and watch her wither away.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, sitting on the floor by her head so I could look her in the eyes. They were bright, full of happiness, even though the rest of her was not. Rosalie stroked the hair off Bella's face. I glared up at her. She shouldn't be encouraging this.

"Fine," she said, smiling at me. I glanced at Edward, who was tensely staring at Rosalie, also. I looked back at Bella.

"Doesn't it worry you that it's growing so fast?" I asked, without thinking. Suddenly, Edward's head snapped back to me, and a deep growl echoed in his throat. Rosalie's fingers clenched on the edges of the couch, and she leaned closer to me, as if to threaten me.

Bella ignored them, and answered my question. "Well, I guess _he _is growing a bit faster than usual," Bella admitted, putting emphasis on the "he." "But it just means that he's strong."

I nodded, thinking about this. "But you realize that since he's growing so fast, by the nine month mark…Bella, you realize you're not going to make it out of this alive?"

Edward stood up and grabbed me up the arm, pulling me to a standing position, in one fluid motion.

"Out of here," he snarled, dragging me towards the staircase. I forcefully pushed his hands off of me, heading straight back to Bella.

"It's the truth, Edward, you know it. That's why you don't want me to say anything. But what, is everyone around here just going to _lie _to Bella? Make her think she has a _chance_?" I hissed, kneeling before Bella again. I turned to her. "Bella, do you realize this?"

She nodded at me. "Yes, and I've told Edward, I'm going to become a vampire."

I relaxed immediately. That was the plan anyway, wasn't it? For Bella to become a vampire? And at least now, she could have a child of her own, the way Rosalie or Esme or I never could. I couldn't understand why everyone around here was so distressed; sure, it would do a number on Bella's _human _body, but immediately after she gave birth, I saw no reason for them not to turn her into a vampire right then.

So that just made it all the more confusing as to why Edward was fighting this so much. Probably, he didn't want anything hurting Bella if it was possible to prevent it. But it wasn't possible. Rosalie and Bella were dead set against killing the thing, there wasn't anything he could do.

I looked away from Bella's face to turn back to Edward, triumphant, and was met with the horrified faces of my entire family. Why was everyone so tense, so ready for the worst possible thing to happen?

"You're the ones who'll end up scaring her most," I said shortly, aggravated.

Esme put a hand soothingly on my arm, and I felt a wave of calmness wash over me. Jasper, again.

"Alice, we're just trying to approach the situation delicately," she said softly.

"Why? It's already laid out there on the table," I said, pulling back. "Bella's going to have a baby and become a vampire!"

Carlisle shook his head. "It's not that simple, Alice," he said. "Things are more complicated than that."

"Oh, really?" I challenged. "What, is the baby going to kill her itself? What's so complicated?"

I swiftly darted upstairs and shut my bedroom door behind me. I knew I was overreacting; obviously there were things to worry about, possibilities we might not see. But for all I knew, Bella was going to be fine, and everything was going to work out perfectly, everything was going according to plan. The only reason I doubted that was because my vision didn't work around her.


	3. Chapter 3

A week flew by, and nobody updated me on Bella. Maybe I'd overreacted or worried everyone about what I might say earlier, but I didn't feel like lying to Bella any longer. She knew she probably wasn't going to make it out human; that's not to say she wouldn't make it out alive.

But, eventually, Jasper came into my room to inform me that Bella's friend Jacob had showed up, and was officially on "our side."

I didn't know what to think of that; Jacob was a werewolf. Naturally, I didn't trust him. I couldn't understand how he would benefit from being around Bella.

"Why?" I asked, my arms crossed. I was still pretty annoyed at him for just ignoring me the whole time, and spending all his time worried about Bella when there was nothing anyone could do.

"Because he's worried about her, I guess. Apparently Sam found out about Bella's pregnancy, and how sickly she's become, and they thought it would be best to…come here," he said, the tension seeping into his voice.

"Come here?" I said, sensing there was more to the story. "And what do you mean by that?"

"He was going to attack us, I guess. That's what I got out of Edward. But it's fine, because Jacob left, and brought Seth with him," Jasper said, continuing his explanation. I thought there might be some more details, but they were obviously trivial, or Jasper would've told me.

"So there are two wolves here?" I said, sniffing at the air. I couldn't smell the unpleasant werewolf scent that usually accompanied them.

"They're actually outside, patrolling the borders between werewolf and vampire territory," Jasper said, seeing my confused expression.

Eventually, he excused himself to go take care of Bella some more, and I lay back on my bed, thinking about this.

Was it good that Jacob was here? I'm sure it counted for something, protecting us against his own kind. He obviously cared about Bella a great deal. And maybe he cared about us vampires? Maybe not all of us; maybe only one. But obviously he could stand to be around us for some reason, and if it was just Bella, well, he certainly cared for her very much.

But I also couldn't imagine Jacob feeling anything other than resentment towards us. After all, we were the horrific monsters who would eventually take away the Bella he knew and loved; he'd been against that from the beginning. And obviously, it was going to happen soon, at the rate things were going. Well, at least, from what I understood. No one had bothered to update me for awhile.

So maybe Jacob just wanted to have every moment with Bella that he could while she was human. That was the most likely explanation, and the one I was sticking to for now. Although Carlisle was very compassionate, and maybe Jacob just thought he could help Bella somehow…but probably not. Jacob wasn't fooling himself like everyone else in this place; he was too smart for that, even if he was just a filthy werewolf.

I stood and crossed the room, looking down into the yard. I could see Jacob or Seth, blurry, moving dots in the distance. I couldn't tell who was who, they were too far away.

Suddenly, I heard someone knocking on my door. I'd been so absorbed watching the werewolves that it actually surprised me, something that happened rarely, if ever. I crossed the room and opened the door in under two seconds. I was surprised to see Rosalie, but before I could say anything, she was in my room and sitting on my chair.

"Why'd you leave Bella?" I said, automatically assuming something was wrong.

"Because I thought someone should inform you that she's doing much, much better," Rosalie said in a clipped tone.

I smiled in relief; I'd thought she was…I don't know, giving birth, or something. Thank God it was good news, good enough for Rosalie to be able to leave her side.

"There's a…not so good part about it, I suppose," Rosalie continued, her gaze drifting over towards the window. No matter how evil she may seem, she could never deliver bad news looking someone straight in the eye.

"What?" I said, feeling the tension creeping back.

"She has to drink blood to feed the baby, so it doesn't drain her. Emotionally, physically…everyone's better off this way, I guess it's just a bit vile for a human to be drinking blood for food," Rosalie said, still looking at the window.

"She's drinking _blood_?" I asked in disbelief. How could she force herself to drink blood? And obviously, this hadn't just happened…they'd waited until it had worked to tell me, hadn't they? So Bella could stand it…it was just disgusting to think of her drinking blood, being human and all.

Eventually, Rosalie left to be by Bella's side again, and I just stayed in the room, staring out the window, shocked. After night fell, I eventually made my way downstairs, just to check up on everything. I wasn't exactly banned from the house; it was just inconvenient to be down there.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw no one there; I was a bit scared, thinking something bad had happened. But I heard the X-ray machine, so I guessed Bella had broken a rib, or something; Edward had told me about the first one. It was obviously to be expected, what with the huge creature in her stomach. Then I saw Jacob Black lying in the doorway, the wind blowing over his face. He was wearing someone else's clothes, probably Emmett's. He was much too big for them, and they looked so out of place on his frame.

"Do you want a pillow?" I asked. He was obviously just as uncomfortable with the situation as I was.

"No," he muttered, sounding annoyed. I sat on the floor behind him, staring out the door.

"That doesn't look comfortable," I said. I couldn't understand why he was so annoyed when I was just trying to be hospitable.

"S'not," he said, still not looking at me. I sighed.

"Why don't you move, then?"

"Tired. Why aren't you upstairs with the rest of them?" he replied.

"Headache," I muttered. I didn't want to explain the real reason—I was all but banned from being around Bella.

He finally turned to look at me. He was a bit handsome, I suppose, but obviously not my type. And the awful smell…well, I just couldn't get over that.

"Vampires get headaches?" he said. He obviously didn't believe me.

"Not the normal ones," I said. He snorted in return.

"So how come you're never with Bella anymore?" The question was more of an accusation; I could imagine how he felt. I'd been with Bella so much he got even less time with her. "Thought you two were like this." He twisted his two fingers together.

I wrapped my arms around my legs and replied. "Like I said, headache."

"Bella's giving you a headache?" he asked, sounding doubtful.

"Yes."

He frowned at me, and turned back to looking outside.

"Not Bella, really," I said, backtracking. "The…" The word was a bit disgusting to me. I had no idea why, I just didn't like to think of it at all, I guess. "Fetus. I can't see it. I can't see anything about it. Just like you."

I saw him flinch, and grind his teeth together. I guess he didn't like it any more than I did, and certainly didn't like being compared with it.

"Bella gets in the way," I continued. "She's all wrapped around it, so she's…blurry. Like bad reception on a TV—like trying to focus your eyes on those fuzzy people jerking around on the screen. It's killing my head to watch her. And I can't see more than a few minutes ahead, anyway. The…fetus is too much a part of her future. When she first decided…when she knew she wanted it, she blurred right out of my sight. Scared me to death."

I sat quietly for a moment. I wasn't sure if Jacob really wanted to hear this; I didn't even like thinking about how I thought Bella had died. I shook my head, and suddenly realized it felt much better. Jacob had some kind of presence that calmed my head, and it was extremely soothing; I hadn't felt this way for weeks.

"I have to admit, it's a relief having you close by—in spite of the wet-dog smell. Everything goes away. Like having my eyes closed. It numbs the headache."

"Happy to be of service, ma'am," he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. I sometimes couldn't understand why he was so hostile; I was perfectly polite to him. But I guess it was just the old resentment he felt towards vampires in general.

"I wonder what it has in common with you…why you're the same that way," I commented. I'd thought I was just wondering out loud, so I wasn't exactly prepared for what happened next. But I guess I should've known Jacob would've been offended, since he hated it as much as I did.

"I have nothing in common with that lifesucker," he spat between his teeth, his fists clenched.

I tried not to pay attention to this, and went on calmly, "Well, there's _something _there."

He didn't say anything, and I guessed he was too tired from attending to Bella to stay angry for any amount of time.

"You don't mind if I sit here by you, do you?" I asked. I felt somewhat guilty for comparing him with the fetus and not admitting it was just in the sense that they blocked my vision.

"Guess not. Stinks anyway."

"Thanks," I said, still trying to make it up to him. "This is the best thing for it, I guess, since I can't take aspirin."

"Could you keep it down? Sleeping, here," he said, rather rudely. However, I immediately silenced myself and concentrated on the trees and the grass and all the natural beauty outside. He was almost asleep immediately, his chest rising and falling.

After awhile, everyone brought Bella downstairs. I decided to stay around, since Jacob was there, relieving my "headache." We all arranged ourselves around her, with me sitting on the floor, and spent the rest of the day and night with her. Seth eventually came around in time for breakfast.

"Hey, Jake's coming around!" Seth cried out.

Jacob took in Seth's arm around Bella's shoulders and the plate of food on his lap.

"What the hell?"

"He came to find you," Edward explained quickly as Jacob stood. "And Esme convinced him to stay for breakfast."

Seth noticed the angry expression, as well, and continued Edward's explanation. "Yeah, Jake—I was just checking to see if you were okay 'cause you didn't ever phase back. Leah got worried. I _told _her you probably just crashed human, but you know how she is. Anyway, they had all this food, and dang, man, you can _cook_," he said, turning to Edward at this last part.

"Thank you," Edward murmured politely; he was way too humble.

Jacob didn't say anything, just continued staring at Seth's arm slung around Bella. Finally, Edward spoke up.

"Bella got cold."

Seth looked confused for a moment about why Edward would say this, but then glanced up at Jacob's face and quickly removed his arm from around Bella. Jacob continued on over so he was just a few feet from the couch, obviously still trying to control his emotions.

"Leah running patrol?" he grunted at Seth, still sleepy-sounding.

"Yeah," Seth replied. "She's on it. No worries. She'll howl if there's anything. We traded off around midnight. I ran twelve hours."

Seth was obviously proud of it; I didn't want to rain on his parade, but that was nothing to a vampire. We could run for days on end, and still never get tired. Although, it was pretty impressive for someone not as…capable as us.

"Midnight? Wait a minute—what time is it now?" Jacob asked.

"'Bout dawn," Seth replied, looking over to the window, as if to make sure.

"Crap. Sorry about that, Seth. Really. You shoulda kicked me awake."

Seth shook his head. "Naw, man, you needed some serious sleep. You haven't taken a break since when? Night before your last patrol for Sam? Like forty hours? Fifty? You're not a machine, Jake. 'Sides, you didn't miss anything at all."

I saw Jacob's eyes flick towards Bella with those words. Obviously he took them as a different meaning. He wasn't shocked or displeased, though; she probably looked better than when he first saw her. She certainly looked better than when I first saw her, even though that was awhile ago. Her skin was nice and rosy once again, and her hair wasn't brittle. She looked up at Jacob staring at her and gave him a smile.

"How's the rib?" he asked. I knew it; she'd broken another rib.

"Taped up nice and tight. I didn't even feel it," she replied cheerily. Jacob rolled his eyes at this, and Edward ground his teeth. Obviously the fact that she dismissed a broken rib so carelessly bothered them.

"What's for breakfast?" he shot at her sarcastically. "O negative or AB positive?"

She stuck out her tongue at Jake; she was feeling much better, then, if she was ready to begin acting so childish.

"Omelets," she said, but looked back down at a cup between her and Edward's legs. I guessed that was the cup she'd been drinking blood out of. It sickened me to think of the liquid going down her throat, into her delicate human stomach…it just wasn't right.

"Go get some breakfast, Jake," Seth interrupted. "There's a bunch in the kitchen. You've got to be empty."

Jacob looked at the food in Seth's lap, and his stomach growled almost instantly.

"What's Leah having for breakfast?" he asked.

"Hey, I took food to her before I ate _anything_," Seth replied defensively. "She said she'd rather eat roadkill, but I bet she caves. These cinnamon rolls…" He drifted off there, probably thinking about how amazing they were. I'll admit, they did smell pretty appetizing, if I was human.

"I'll go hunt with her, then," Jacob said. Seth sighed as he turned to leave. Suddenly, Carlisle spoke up.

"A moment, Jacob?" he said, starting to move towards Jacob gracefully.

"Yeah?" Jacob said, turning back to face him. I guessed that if it was anyone else, he wouldn't have been so polite.

Esme left the room for the kitchen as Carlisle approached Jacob. Carlisle stopped a good two feet away from Jacob, giving him some space. I doubted Jacob would be kind enough to return such a gesture in the future.

"Speaking of hunting, that's going to be an issue for my family. I understand that our previous truce is inoperative at the moment, so I wanted your advice. Will Sam be hunting for us outside of the perimeter you've created? We don't want to take our chance with hurting any of your family—or losing any of ours. If you were in our shoes, how would you proceed?"

It was nice of Carlisle to ask, but I was positive we could take on those damn werewolves any day. We wouldn't lose anyone; they were just flesh and blood, a little bit larger than the game we're used to hunting, but still. We could take them all easily. Carlisle was probably just trying to protect Jacob from losing anything else, since we were already taking Bella away.

"It's a risk," Jacob replied. "Sam's calmed down some, but I'm pretty sure that in his head, the treaty is void. As long as he thinks the tribe, or any other human, is in real danger, he's not going to ask questions first, if you know what I mean. But, with all that, his priority is going to be La Push. There really aren't enough of them to keep a decent watch on the people while putting out hunting parties big enough to do much damage. I bet he's keeping it close to home."

I glanced back at Carlisle's face to see him nodding, as if he really needed Jacob's advice.

"So I guess I'd say, go out together, just in case. And probably you should go in the day, 'cause we'd be expecting night. Traditional vampire stuff. You're fast—go over the mountains and hunt far enough away that there's no chance he'd send anyone that far from home."

"And leave Bella behind, unprotected?"

"What are we, chopped liver?" Jacob replied with a snort.

Carlisle laughed for a moment, and then returned to his serious expression that he'd been wearing ever since Bella's pregnancy. "Jacob, you can't fight against your brothers."

Jacob stiffened. "I'm not saying it wouldn't be hard, but if they were really coming to kill her—I would be able to stop them."

Carlisle shook his head. Jacob had gotten the wrong message. "No, I didn't mean that you would be…" he took a long pause to search for the word that would offend everyone the least. "Incapable. But that it would be very wrong. I can't have that on my conscience."

"It wouldn't be on yours, Doc. It would be on mine. And I can take it," Jacob said. I'd never heard anyone refer to Carlisle as "Doc," or anything at all like that. It was strange hearing it used so casually.

Carlisle continued in his efforts to save Jacob from destroying his brothers. "No, Jacob. We will make sure that our actions don't make that a necessity." He frowned, as if he was seeing he actually didn't need Jacob's help. But I guess he was just making a plan of his own. "We'll go three at a time. That's probably the best we can do."

"I don't know, Doc. Dividing down the middle isn't the best strategy." Please. What did Jacob know about strategy? And he kept using this annoying "Doc" term. Was Jacob really foolish enough to believe Carlisle wasn't smart enough to figure out a plan on his own? He could've easily had Edward read the werewolves' mind.

"We've got some extra abilities that will even it up. If Edward is one of the three, he'll be able to give us a few miles' radius of safety." Carlisle was genius at using his original plan while making Jacob seem worthy.

They both glanced casually over at Edward, but Carlisle began backtracking when he saw Edward's expression. He should've known Edward wouldn't have wanted to be away from Bella…but then again, I hadn't considered that either.

"I'm sure there are other ways, too. Alice, I would imagine you could see which routes would be a mistake?"

Idiots. It was so obvious. But I nodded, anyway. "The ones that disappear. Easy."

When I looked over to the couch, Edward had calmed down a bit. But, Bella was watching me with an odd expression. It was almost as if she was…unhappy. What had I done?

"Okay, then," Jacob interrupted. "That's settled. I'll just be on my way. Seth, I'll expect you back on at dusk, so get a nap in there somewhere, all right?"

"Sure, Jake. I'll phase back soon as I'm done. Unless…" He glanced uneasily at Bella. "Do you need me?" Mistake.

"She's got blankets," Jacob said, practically biting Seth's head off.

Suddenly, Esme hurried back into the room, holding a big plate of breakfast. She noticed the tension, but took another small step towards Jacob, offering the food.

"Jacob," she said, using a soft tone. "I know it's…unappetizing to you, the idea of eating here, where it smells so unpleasant. But I would feel much better if you would take some food with you when you go.I 

know you can't go home, and that's because of us. Please—ease some of my remorse. Take something to eat." She held out the plate further, her expression as motherly as a vampire could look.

"Uh, sure, sure," Jacob mumbled. "I guess. Maybe Leah's still hungry or something."

He reached out, plucking it from her as if afraid to actually make contact. He was so transparent; we all knew that he'd dump it as soon as he was out of range. But it wasn't like we would tell Esme, and make her feel bad. She already felt bad enough he couldn't go home, to his family or friends.

"Thank you, Jacob," Esme said. When she smiled at him, an expression of astonishment crossed his face. As if he didn't know vampires could be compassionate, or sweet.

"Um, thank you," he replied, blushing.

"Will you come back later, Jake?" Bella blurted out as he tried to escape. I knew it must be uncomfortable, but he could at least be polite and appreciate the efforts everyone was putting out for him.

"Uh, I don't know."

To my surprise, when I looked over, Bella was pressing her lips together, as if holding in a smile. I couldn't imagine how she'd be happy; Jacob was ditching her just because the situation made him uncomfortable. What kind of friend was that?

"Please? I might get cold." She was pretty clever.

Jacob took a deep breath through his nose. A moment after, he realized that it might not be a good idea for a werewolf, who was naturally repulsed by the scent of vampires, to breathe in while in a house inhabited by such creatures.

"Maybe," he replied.

"Jacob?" Esme asked. It was funny to see what happened next: big, tall Jacob backing up toward the door, and small, almost fragile-looking Esme following him. The whole scene looked somewhat menacing. "I left a basket of clothes on the porch. They're for Leah. They're freshly washed—I tried to touch them as little as possible. Do you mind taking them to her?"

"On it," Jacob muttered. With that, he dashed out the door, while I tried my best to contain my laughter until he was far out of hearing range.


End file.
